WNBA contract, Wolves Playoff Math and Playing without Ant

This week, we’re diving into a variety of storylines shaking up the basketball world. First, we break down the WNBA contract and discuss what’s changing, who benefits, and why this moment feels like a turning point for the league. Then we shift to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where the playoff picture is tightening. And finally, we ask: what does life look like without Anthony Edwards on the floor? Are Bones and Ayo the most fun new duo? What are the pros and cons of Kyle being on the floor? Why do we keep forgetting about Julius? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

I will never get away. Even if you cannot stay. I think you all want for me. Even where you are to be.

unknown 0:24

I just want to say.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Welcome to Love and Basketball, a Timberlynx fancast. I'm Matt.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

And I'm Marissa, and we're a married couple and longtime fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Every week we break down the games, spill the off-court tea, and share our takes. This is our weekly catch-up, and you're invited.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Hey, welcome back. On today's episode, we're gonna talk about the new WMBA contract.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

We're gonna talk about Ant's injury and how the sporting cast of characters are stepping up or not.

SPEAKER_03 0:56

And we'll cover playoff possibilities as we come down to the last 11 games of the season. Oh my goodness. I can't believe it's already here. It feels like it just started.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

I know, I know. Um, and I'm really excited to jump into the the first topic here today of being the NBA or WNBA stuff. Um it's been a long time since we've had real information.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

And I it just gets me excited about the season. So let's let's let's start with that.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Yeah, things can actually happen now that there's a contract in place. So that's exciting. So I just wanted to break down some of the nuts and bolts of the contract and what this means for our players. Yeah. You know, it's a big, it's life-changing news for them. Yes. So the average salary in the contract will go from 120K to 583k.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

If if you put it in in comparison, it's hard to compare it to the MBA. Right. So you have to just look at it separately.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

And it's hard to compare it to real life.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Our salaries, yeah. True, but yeah, that that's life-changing. Um, the minimum salary, so it used to be the minimum salary was$66,000 a year. The minimum will now be$270,000.

unknown 2:05

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Good for them. It's such a successful league. They they have earned every part of this as the players. So and then and then the you know, some of the other stuff, supermax deals are moving up from what?

SPEAKER_03 2:20

$249,000 to$1.4 million.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 2:25

So that'll be big for a few players. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Not not necessarily every, you know, every team in the league is is expected to have a supermax, but you know, some of them are, so good for them. Um, and then the revenue model. Yeah. They're finally moving away from you know just a salary cap and and not looking at the you know the overall success of the league, but they're actually now tied to revenue, which is cool. Now, you know, it's it's not as much as what they were originally seeking. I know that they were seeking something similar to the the NBA, uh, which is closer to that 50 50% model. Um, but they're they've jumped it from zero to twenty percent of the uh of the revenue that um oh that's alright, don't worry.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

How's your I had a little iced coffee, it was so loud, sorry. Like oh my ice is loud.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

So anyway, yeah, the sharing sharing's good. Um I think that you know they have to prove the model out, and if they have success, I'm sure that they'll be asking for more down, you know, the next arbitration years from now. So that's great. Um I think that one of the most important things to look at is you know the salary cap when we're talking about you know Supermax and the average player um you know salary and all of that kind of stuff. So salary and these numbers are crazy to really comprehend in my head. Like, so they had a salary cap of 1.5 million.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

1.5 million.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Like okay, that again a lot of money, but not in professional sports. So it jumps from 1.5 to 7, which good for again, awesome. That is that is incredible. So so that's gonna be really important for the overall team.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Um yeah, because you look at uh now uh the supermax salary, so there will be some players making 1.4, which used to be what the salary gap was for the whole team. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

I that's that's true. I mean, so yeah, I mean they the players won in many aspects of this. Yeah. Um one of the caveats to it is and also good for the players, um, overall for the for um you know women's sports in general, they have to carry 12 players now, too, which is an increase, I think, of a couple players.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

Just one. Last year it was 11.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

But just if you add 12, you're or add one to get it to 12, and then they also have two developmental spots, you know, all of that means more players, yes, you know, getting access to this and and and and not only encouraged but mandated more players. Yes, so that's that's also really good too.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Um and the number of games um in the season will increase year by year. So um so for this next season, we're gonna stay at 44 games, which still I'm like, that's half of what the NBA plays. That's right, interesting. But next year it'll bump to 50, and in um 2029 it'll bump to 52. So they're slowly increasing the length of the season, the um the amount of games played.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

So that's exciting. You know, on that same note, um, you know, they're also adding to you know, two teams. Teams, expansion teams, yes, expansion teams, and we'll get into the dates of what that means later, but you know, that also is expanding the sport, expanding the exposure, you know, all that kind of stuff. It's it's really exciting.

SPEAKER_03 5:45

Yeah. Um some player benefits, so this gets down, and uh you might know more of what the NBA player benefits are, but so now it's charter air travel for the entire season, and it that expands first class accommodations for league events. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

So league events, is that what you're questioning?

SPEAKER_03 6:03

Yeah, does that just mean like the all-star game? Yeah, okay. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

The big things that they're mandated to go to.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Okay, they get first class. That isn't the team.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

So they were just sitting middle row and coach or in like well, I think that some teams didn't charter flights, so they were you I did hear that, yes. Which, you know, I don't think the the links have been a part of this this lower tier teams. Like I know Dallas and Chicago, and sh they they really rough in terms of accommodations and and that's a four for professional athletes, you know. And again, it's difficult to, you know, I've never flown a charter flight or I, you know, very you know, I've never I don't think I've ever been in first class.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Um I have once. Thank you, mom and dad. They got two free. I think they their tickets got bumped and they let us sit in first class. Would you ever do that?

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Would we ever let our kids too bad? Too bad. Oh, and here's the middle school.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

It was so nice, and my sister and I were so impressed with the small salt and pepper shakers. Oh my gosh. That was the most exciting. Like we ever used salt and pepper when we were kids.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

So I don't really I know that um, you know, the Lynx players I think have experienced a lot more, you know, accommodations and respect from the ownerships, especially specifically Glen Glenn Taylor through this whole thing.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Um but which is interesting because he's cheap.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yeah, right, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

So I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Yeah, I mean, in comparison to the other teams.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

And he wasn't disproportionately cheap to the women's team. Right, right. I think he just has a frugal outlook. Right. Yeah, but he treats people treated the links with respect and dignity.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Yeah. So so there's that. I love the the next point you're gonna bring up about the housing.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

Yeah, so now the the teams will provide housing for all players through 2028.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Is that ever been a part of the NBA? I mean, they just made too much money. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

I mean, I maybe back in the day, I'm not sure, but no.

SPEAKER_03 7:57

That's not a part of even rookie, a rookie contract, they don't get housing. Okay. I don't think so. So and then starting in 2029, it will become dependent on your income, so only for those making$500,000 or less. Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Still, that's like Well, and that that's like the minimum is$270. So there's gonna be a lot of players that are gonna be continued, um, you know, get housed housed. I and one reason why this is a big deal is so many of the WNBA players have been playing overseas.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Oh, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

They're doing all this stuff. So, like, where are you supposed to live?

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Where why are you paying a mortgage year-round in Minneapolis when you're then flying to Turkey? Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Exactly. So it just I mean, it makes a lot more sense for players that are playing all year round.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

And the the seasons shorter, so it's not like you're paying for just a few months, you know, four months about, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Yeah, exactly. So I mean, good for them because I know that that was on the table if they did not want to be providing that any any longer, because there was some how you know, you know, housing um in the past.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

Um, and then something about bonuses also have increased, yeah, doubled basically for those winning a championship, yeah. From 23 to 60k. Again, I should probably have looked up what what the bonuses are on the on the men's side, but it's not really it doesn't really it's not fun to look at that right now.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

It's more or less just look at the growth, the progress in women's sports. Exactly. And this is big, you know. So many of the players in the W are mothers. Um, so they're they now have parental leave, paid parental leave, and they've also added mental health coverage, which I love, and they've increased their 401k contributions, and then there's a one-time payment for veterans. I don't know how many women that would apply to, and you have to have served like over 12 years, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

And that will continue to get bigger and better the longer the league is successful. Like it's the same thing with you know every uh like men's sports, you know, historically, like when they first started the veteran stuff was garbage. Uh I can look at like the NFL, all of the you know, people dying early and CTE and all that kind of stuff, like they didn't get any sort I mean they weren't getting medical coverage like after after they were retired, but all of that has changed, you know, with the advancement of well just understanding of what this does to their bodies. So that will also increase over time and success, I'm sure of it, because also the pool of veterans gets larger and larger and larger, and their voice is heard a lot more too. So I'm sure that you know over time this will increase. But it's really important for you know these players that are getting, you know, they're beating up their bodies, and the long-term effect is is you know considerable. So that the the payment or like the continued you know resources when they're retired is important.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Oh my gosh, I don't want to admit to this, but I thought it meant like US veteran. Oh I was like, who would this apply to? Who would serve for 12 years in the US Army and not apply it with me? That is amazing. I was like, what are you talking about? When I was like, I'm Matt, I'm talking about veterans, and you're like off on this other tangent.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

No, I'm talking about retired players in like after the fact.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

So your mind immediately goes to like we're talking about sports.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

I gotta put my sports cap on.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Like 401k contributions and retirements.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

There's veteran benefits. Of course. Right. I thought maybe they were like also if you've served our country.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

Only for 12 years or more, though.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

I was like, who would this even apply to?

SPEAKER_02 11:46

It's like a second career before they go.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

I was like, hey, they deserve it. Yeah, they've been over there for 12 years and now they're playing basketball. Give them housing. They're 36 and they're starting. I was confused. Great. That is great. We should have that. I know more about like government benefits. That's more my wheelhouse than professional athlete benefits.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

What are you talking about? Injuries are long-term sports.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

That is like blah blah. Oh, that's what you meant by veteran.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Shout out, shout out to Eli, because this is an Eliism, where you didn't need to admit that you were wrong.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

But maybe other people are too.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Eli is the best thing, it's admitting when he he's confused, and so that's why you say that.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Yeah. He won't be listening to this, but still. Um, okay, and then the last benefit, which is a big deal because women get pregnant. Men don't get pregnant. This is true. Now on uh the Timberwolves, they are constantly getting people pregnant. Oh. I'm just saying every year there's so many babies, and it's fun in the baby showers, and they're running in the middle of the game, Rudy and Aunt to go to the delivery room. But our uh the WMBA players actually give birth. Right. So there's now this new caveat in the contract states that the teams must obtain a player's consent before trading them while they're pregnant.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

See, that just makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_03 13:18

It does.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

That that's like that they should have been able to pass that a long time ago.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

I mean, oh, you're pregnant, you can't play.

SPEAKER_03 13:29

Uh go play in Chicago. We're gonna move you to Chicago.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

That doesn't make any sense. Right. So good, good, protect them, please.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

So those are kind of the nuts and bolts of the contract. Sorry about that vet veteran piece. Um That was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Awesome work doing the research on this. I mean, this is.

SPEAKER_03 13:46

She thinks I should have done a little bit more research when it came to the veteran piece. But alright, so it is today is March 22nd. Yes. The next big date when we look at the WMBA is April 6th. That's when it's the expansion draft for the new Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. Coming up with names must be hard.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Toronto Tempo is pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

I mean, it is they have the alliteration. One thing that is exciting about the Portland team is that Sylvia, our Sylvia got hired as an assistant coach. No way. Yeah, so we can. Yes. Oh my gosh. So she'll be there. Oh, that's awesome. And that's exciting. Now.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

So can I talk about that really quickly? Yeah. So I don't know the details yet, but what's really important about the expansion draft is is how many people are going to be exposed to that draft. Like how many players of like the links will be possible.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

What do you mean exposed?

SPEAKER_02 14:41

So um in an expansion draft, they don't just start with rookies. They start with W and W.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

That's right, I remember this from last year.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

So wait, how why so you can protect a certain number of your players?

SPEAKER_03 14:54

And then Courtney Williams could be in the expansion draft?

SPEAKER_02 14:58

So what's really important is, you know, many of these um players need to sign and then be protected and that sort of thing when it comes to who's going to be because they they're gonna protect Nafisa. You know what I mean? Like they're not gonna let like Portland take her off of our team, but they need to be able to draft the team.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

Right, not just of all rookies.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Right. So so there's gonna be, you know, especially in good teams, you have to, you know, like the links, you have to, you know, look at who you have and who you can protect and all this kind of stuff, and then um go from there. So it'll be interesting because of and we're gonna talk about this in a second, but like we have to start signing players, and what we sign them at will also kind of protect or open up the possibility of those other teams taking that. Like if we overpay for some players, maybe they won't um want them on Portland, or if we underpay someone according to like league value, maybe that will incentivize someone to take that player. So there's a lot of chess being played, you know, in this next few weeks. It's incredible on how condensed this is when you really think about signing all the players, then getting those players drafted or drafted from your team.

SPEAKER_03 16:19

I didn't think about that. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

So, anyway, and then um right after that draft, then they have this really unique thing that um, you know, designating core players, which I thought was really interesting, and I need to dig in more to what this means, but qualifying hours to core players, they're they're basically saying qualifying offers offers. Um there's this I think that might have to do with um, you know, you had mentioned something to me before everything going, it was like it's kind of like the um franchise tag of of certain individuals. And when I think franchise tag, I think of the NFL. And what that means is, you know, if they are free agents at the end of their contracts, um you can franchise tag a player, which means that you don't have to sign them to a long deal, it's like a one-year deal, but they get paid at the top end of that position. And so what this is doing is it is identifying a number of players that at the end of their contracts would be considered core players. So we'll see how that all plays out. Right. I don't I don't know. I mean, I yeah, this is this is exciting.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Right, like I'm wondering for the links if that means our starting five, like uh you know, would they be considered core?

SPEAKER_02 17:33

I miss book though, earlier, because the next date that you have on here is signing um negotiating free agents between the April April 9th and April um April 11th. So does that mean that all of our players how does this work? I don't understand how this works.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

So so just Matt, we're gonna have to edit this out. I'm just kidding. So first we have the expansion draft. Yeah. Then that's on April 6th, then the next day, teams can ex start extending qualifying offers to the core players. Then uh two days later on the 9th, teams can negotiate free agents, contracts with free agents, but no contracts can be signed, but you can start negotiating. And then April 12th is when the official signing window opens.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

So that is so different than what you know, in terms of the uh expansion draft, what that means, because normally, like when an NBA team has been added or an NFL team's been added, you know, you have contracts in place. But because of, you know, this scenario, and there's so many free agents right now.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Over a hundred.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Over a hundred free agents.

SPEAKER_03 18:44

How is this going to be? I don't know. We should let's pay close attention because this is, I feel like it's it's very unheard of uh in professional sports, it seems, right? To have over a hundred and then over a hundred free agents and then the two expansion teams with this new contract. It's gonna be fun to pay attention to.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Yeah. Oh my goodness. I am sorry for everyone that was looking for real answers during this podcast.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

We're just processing and learning. Yeah. And then the WMBA draft for not just the expansion draft, but the whole draft is on the 13th.

unknown 19:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Um is gonna be had at the front office of all these teams. No kidding. This is craziness.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Yes. And coming off of the NCAA tournament, I bet there will be some excitement of players coming into the draft. Um, the three players who are expected expected to seek super Mac deal super max deals are Asia Wilson, Nafisa Collier, and Brianna Stewart.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Yep. So I do have a clip that I wanted to play that I thought was so cute, and I hope I can get it to you. So just bear with me for one second. Um this is I think y'all know that um our stud buds, Natisha and Courtney, go live. Um, they stream live a lot, and I caught this little moment and it's gonna be a little bit cut off, but just want to hear uh I want you to hear Natisha talking about the possibility of her and Courtney not playing on the same team. It's so sweet.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Like if that happens, like I need that. No, and every time I think about it, like I really need that. I almost feel like I'm going through life.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

So just that's a good reminder that this is emotional time. Like it's not just usually there are a few free not a few, but there are free agents, but the majority of teams are intact.

unknown 21:27

Right.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

And this is very, this is a very unsettling time for these players. And it's exciting, but it's also like, yeah, the links might look a lot different. You know, if we're gonna, if our focus will be on signing Nafisa, which I hope it is, yeah, then you know, we can't afford you know, how does that work and who stays and who goes? And I have no idea what the priorities will be. Like I just don't, you know, so I don't is it keeping, you know, Courtney's an all-star. Is it keeping Courtney? Is Natisha the perfect backup for her or is you know I I don't know that keeping the stud buds together will be the priority of the Minnesota Lynx. It shouldn't be. Right. But it's it's been so like a lot of the comments on the video were like, it's good for the W to have the stud buds together. I mean, they bring a lot of like they promote the W, they bring a lot of fun, joy, wholesome content. I mean, it's not always wholesome, but that's pretty it's pretty great. So I thought that was just like a real moment that you don't always capture from men, you know, talking about like the emotions you go through with being traded or being signed or not being being signed by a different team.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

So anyway, so that's a really interesting next month. And yeah, and honestly, I think that the you know with all of these rule changes, there's going to be a learning curve. And um, just like in in the NBA a couple years ago when they changed, you know, the the penalties and adding that second apron, it took people, it took a couple seconds for people to figure out the nuances and how to play within the rules. I think there's gonna be similar things here where you know that this is a brand new field to to work with in a sense, and then all of the like what at what level, like to just the just you named that there's gonna be three people seeking the supermax. I mean, if you think about that, that's there's almost at least one on every NBA team. So, like, uh at what level does that start and stop, and where are these plateaus in you know, value of these players going to be established with these new these new rules? It's gonna take some time to figure it all out, and there's gonna be some interesting movement because of it. So I'm excited to follow along.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Me too, and lastly, just shout out to Kayla McBride, who's been in Minnesota recently. She came to a Timberwolves game, she's been working out at the Lynx Mayo Clinic facility, so excited to have her back in Minnesota. It must it must be weird not officially because she hasn't signed yet, but she's like was last here and we love her. So welcome back, Kayla.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Well, that was I that that segment was amazing. I I missed having real things to talk about with a W.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Yeah, we've been um so we are gonna follow you know move in after the Timberwolves playoffs. We are a Timberlinks. So we will be bringing up the Lynx more, yes, right, more and more and more, but especially after the the NBA playoffs conclude.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Exactly, exactly. So now we'll move into you know the T-Wolves and what they've been up to the last you know month or so um since we last recorded. Um and sorry, mom uh and dad and Dave, they've been asking for this, but it is what it is. We've gotten eight and five since we last recorded. So um in in that eight and five, we actually had a five-game winning streak and a three-game losing streak. And it's interesting, like I didn't feel as good about the five-game winning streak as I did feel bad about the three-game. I mean, it's just like you just focused on you know the negative so much. But you know, eight and five, that's not the worst thing in in a run like that. Um, but there was some real low moments on how I was feeling about the team during that time because we lost to some really good teams and some really bad teams.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Yeah, we had a really harsh road trip in there where we needed to win more than we did on that road trip. Yeah, because it was kind of these are the teams that we're gonna play in the playoffs and we could play in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

And there's a game against the Clippers where we lost about 30. Yeah. And and those just stay.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Kawhi is just good.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

And for some reason, he he really just likes to play against us.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

He's like, watch me shoot this over you, ant.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

It's embarrassing. It doesn't matter how good the defense is, sometimes he's just such a good player. Side note on the whole Clippers thing. Hello, NBA. When are we gonna penalize for the whole thing that we talked about last time um or or a couple episodes ago, where he has an illegal contract with a team or a company outside of it to make a few.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

He's too good. And the fact he's untouchable, apparently.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Apparently. I mean, we got in trouble for a handshake deal for Joe Smith, where it was like, after this, we'll sign you to a bigger contract. Nothing crazy, and we lost like seven first-round picks because of it.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

And they like or have a fake tree farm or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Right, exactly. I mean, he's getting paid millions of dollars on the side, and and nothing's happening.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

This is just ridiculous. Hello, let's get him.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Yeah. And they're winning, so make it stop.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Yeah, exactly. Anyway, um, one really important thing that happened in this stretch was um Ant got um dinged up. I'm gonna say dinged up.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

It wasn't in it's not a specific injury.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

So it's not a sprain, it's not a break or a fracture or a punctured lung.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

Right, right, definitely not a punctured lung.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

Um, so inflammation.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

Inflammation.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Inflammation.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

Um, so it was during the last game he played was against OKC.

SPEAKER_03 27:06

Which started out great, by the way. That was a good game until the fourth.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Right. And then it didn't end well.

SPEAKER_03 27:11

Let's blame it on the knee. The inflammation.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

The inflammation. So I heard after the game he was looking pretty rough.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Like he was limping, and it was just, I think the, you know, the toll of the season was getting to him, but then, you know, his knee was really bothering him. So they decided to shut him down for a week or two. Um, and so what that means is that there isn't a specific date that he'll be coming back. There they said that they'll be reevaluating in one to two weeks, which is again is a nebulous, who knows what that really means. But it's been what, a week and a half now since that injury.

SPEAKER_03 27:46

I think it's been a week.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Okay. Anyway, um, we'll see when he comes back. But what's really important is not that we're locked into the playoffs, but we are, you know, we're we need him to be healthy for the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

Yeah, it's it's not the worst timing. Yeah, get healed up. Unfortunately, we're playing really good teams.

SPEAKER_04 28:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

And we we it would be nice to be able to have him on our roster. We've been doing okay without him. We've won a couple games, we had a bad loss, well, unfortunate loss to Portland. We uh came back, I think we're down by 18, ended up getting the lead back through just like good defense, Jaden McDaniels and um bones, and then we were up by four in the fourth, and we couldn't seal the deal. And that's where you wish you had Ant.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Right. Well, and also during during this, um, Nas got hurt during the Oh Nas has been out for two games?

SPEAKER_03 28:42

Shoulder.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

Yeah, and that was in the jazz game, he got injured. Um, and so he was out against the the Blazers.

SPEAKER_03 28:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Um and having two of your top six, that's tough. But also two, I mean, they bring a certain level of energy along with it, and where do you make up that? So what we've been seeing over the ant injury few games here is you know, Io DeSumu has really stepped up.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

And um it's it's really fun to watch when he's on the court with bones and they're running and gunning and just going to get out the way, Rudy. Yeah, it is it it's so fast-paced, it's a lot of fun. Io's defense is great. His three-point shooting is coming back since since the trade, he wasn't shooting as well as he was in Chicago or for his whole career, but that's coming back. Um, and and so he's done a really good job of stepping up.

SPEAKER_03 29:39

Um As has Bones.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

As has Bones. Bones has done really well. Um when it comes to you know, additional changes in this time, you know, we have the addition of Kyle Anderson, who has been, you know, averaging between 15 and 20 minutes per game. Um I'm not as warm on the Kyle Anderson stuff as most people. I am you really love Kyle.

SPEAKER_03 30:04

Well, I like I like him for the team. W when we are we don't need when our fifth player out there doesn't need to be offensive-minded.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Because he's not gonna provide any offense. Maybe a lucky floater here, but he's scored seven shots since he's been here.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

Yeah, that's it. He's made seven shots and he's taken twenty. Um, so that's not the worst happening. It's not the worst. But it's it's what it shows is that he's not an active participant shooting the ball.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

He never has been.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

He never has been, but he does distribute really well. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 30:34

How many assists has he had?

SPEAKER_02 30:36

I could look it up, but more than he had two games with six assists, so that's great. You know, there's the last couple games, not so much on the assist column. Right. But it's you know, he's a calling presence. I would say that he's like the Mike Conley of the team now when Mike isn't playing anymore.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Um I almost think he's better than Mike. Well, I do, because Mike doesn't get any playing time. Poor Mike.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

I'm not talking about compared to now, I'm talking about what Mike did before 15. Yeah. Um, he was around that 15-minute mark and he Kyle brings the ball up and he's a calming presence. He's a smart player. He doesn't, you know, he gets beat off the dribble just like Mike, like all the time. But he's he's really, really a smart player, and he pushes the pace. He his outlet passes really make the you know everyone run. So I like that.

SPEAKER_03 31:23

I because he's so slow, it does kind of trip up defenses at times. I think that's what I like about him because he's so weird in his play, and I think people are like, what are you doing? Oh, you're just gonna shoot over me really slowly. Like it's so weird. Yeah. It's so such an interesting thing, and I think just having a little bit of like diversity on the team and a change of pace. Yeah, and I think that's why bones in Io are so important because we need that fast run and gun to make the defense go, what just happened? Yeah. Um, sometimes we just get stuck with the isolation ball with Ant and Julius, where it's just like, I'm gonna back you up already. Here I go, ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom. That and that was my Julius impersonation. Was that good?

SPEAKER_02 32:06

That was really good.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

Yeah, were you picturing him being like ba-boom, ba boom with his butt but it's more like well, boom. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

Like it's like more methodical when he just backs people down.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

Right. Right. Ohffensive foul, done.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

But he doesn't get why doesn't he get called? I mean, if Carl were doing it, I know you would get like nine.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Because it's his butt instead of his foot or his arm. I swear it's because he's just like, I'm gonna back up against you.

SPEAKER_02 32:31

Sometimes sometimes when he knocks people over and they're just there's lay on the ground, and everyone's waiting for them to call it, and they don't. Exactly, exactly. Um let's talk about Julius then for a moment. So, you know, I think that you said it said it really well. Like you were asking, like, well, who's gonna step up?

SPEAKER_03 32:49

It was the Portland game, and we're like, we just need someone here to play the to come in clutch, right? Ant is our clutch player, we don't have ant. Who's it gonna be? And I was in my head, I'm like, who's it gonna be? Like, I couldn't think. I was like, and Bones, I didn't agree with this, but Finch did not play Bones in the last part of that fourth quarter. He chose Dante, who was not having a great shooting night, but you know, Dante has his strengths even when he's not shooting well. I just think we needed someone to take some offensive to take the lead. And I was like, who is it gonna be? And then I was like, I forgot about Julius. Now I also forgot about Julius during the Christmas songs, I forgot his song. And there was another time where, oh, you asked me the mid year review or something, and I was like, Who else is on our team? I couldn't remember our I think it's once per game regularly. I forget about him regularly, and this is another example how I like forgot he was on our team.

SPEAKER_02 33:41

Which is I think says a lot. I mean, we watch every single game.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

I'm not saying that we're the most informed people in the world, but like if compared to the average, we know what's going on in the Timberwolves, and we should know that our second best player is Julius Randle. Right. And that's I don't know. Since the All-Star Break, he has been a different player.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

Um, some people are saying like he got salty for not being an all-star and got in his feelings.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Yeah, I he his shoot his three-point shooting has gone in the tank. Now there's like still a couple times it's like, oh, there it is. But I mean he was shooting like 12% for like a handful of games post-all-star break. He doesn't seem as as you know, his defense is always a question mark, in my opinion, but it still seems it it's gotten worse. And in Ant's absence, he stepped up, he should be stepping up more.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Now he had a couple games of 30, which is great, but then he disappears again. And that um, you know, the Blazers game that you're talking about is a perfect example. He, you know, now the Blazers are a great kind of defensive team. And they they they have active hands. They're always every time that you dribble, you know, back someone up like Julius and Ant do at times, there's hands getting it. They're gonna steal it, and they did. And they did so many times. Oh! That's the end of our episode. No, just kidding.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

I just have to I was like, what just happened? Did I hit a button? I have no buttons.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

That is hilarious. Um I'm gonna have nah, we're gonna keep it. We're just gonna keep it. Leave it in there. Leave it in there.

SPEAKER_03 35:20

Um kind of the moral of this story is that we keep forgetting Julius and he needs to be more memorable. That's that's the takeaway. Yeah, he needs to be more memorable, Julius. I should not be forgetting you. I watch too much basketball to forget you. We need you to step up. This is your moment. Is that a song? This is your moment, Julius. Sure. Yeah, just make it a song. And I just want to bring one other thing up because I've been wanting to bring this up all year. And it's about Julius and Ant. When you go to the Target Center to watch, oh yes, and they call out everybody and one at a time. What is that called?

SPEAKER_02 35:59

Yeah, they're just announcing the players.

SPEAKER_03 36:00

They're announcing the players.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Starting lineup.

SPEAKER_03 36:03

Starting lineup, Julius does not come out. He's in the locker room.

SPEAKER_04 36:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

And as well, he did come out. The most recent game I went to, he came out. Julius didn't. I don't like it. I don't think it's team first. I don't think it's for the fans. And we already have like Jaden McDaniels is not gonna be like rah-rah.

SPEAKER_04 36:26

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

So who like Rudy? You're leaving us with Rudy and Dante as our guys we're cheering for. I mean, who get excited? Like, come on. Come out and be excited. It's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

Well, and it got so bad there for a while with Ant that we gotta we got a delay of game. Because they they were out, they were he hadn't come out yet, and the game was going on. He runs out, he starts taking off all of his stuff. The everyone's ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

He may have had diarrhea then.

SPEAKER_02 36:56

I don't care. Take care of it ahead of time.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

I know. Sometimes that can't be, but the game I saw Ant did make it out when they got to from Georgia. He ran through. Julius was not. It bothers me. It's so like selfish in my mind. It seems we gotta delay a game. No, I know.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

That's problematic. Before the game started because it's just not engaged in the pregame stuff. Is there a reason why we go down by 12 in the first quarter of every game?

SPEAKER_03 37:22

Maybe it's diarrhea.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

We just have like a team problem of diarrhea.

SPEAKER_03 37:31

Are you thinking of Creed when he has to go to the bathroom and he already has his gloves on? Yeah. Um well, I don't know the issue, but I would like them to just come out and be ready to play. I so yes.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

I yes. That's a good that's a good point to bring up.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

Alright, so we are heading in, we have 11 games left. We play the Boston Celtics tonight in Boston. Um, we are currently ranked uh number sixth in the West, which means if the playoffs were tomorrow, we would play the Lakers. Not the best, not the worst, but not definitely not the best with how they're playing right now. And I mean I think about I don't think Luca's the same player as last year, so we you know, last year they're like Lakers and five with the tagline and the ending. But they're they beat us every day.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

They make us look really stupid. They do. And I hate Luca.

SPEAKER_03 38:20

And they would have home court advantage. Yeah. It's not ideal.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

Not ideal. So with OKC and the Spurs being so far ahead, I mean they're literally like 10 games ahead of us.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

So we're really fighting for three through six right now.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Like the positioning three through six. So it's Lakers, Nuggets, Timberwolves are the three that are fighting for those. Houston's in the Oh Houston. My bad, my bad, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

So so the problem, the problem is is like you really want to get a home, you know, you need to get up to two spots. That's how I look at it. Um, you know, you need to you need to jump.

SPEAKER_03 38:57

Well, I think that used to be the goal, Matt. I think the current goal is staying out of the play-in. Oh, because we're not we if you look at our schedule, we have the hardest, one of the hardest schedules, upcoming schedules in the league. So, and we might have we don't know when we get Ant back. So we were playing Boston, we're playing the Rockets, Detroit, Dallas, Detroit again, Philly. So we uh can we we could easily drop.

SPEAKER_02 39:23

So here here's the the the good thing is there's only 11 games left. The bad thing is there's only 11 games left.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

And where they're not against Utah.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

You know, the people realistically, the highest we could get technically would be in in the third spot.

SPEAKER_04 39:40

Which we did have.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

We did have not that long ago. And then we went on the road. But really, it's fighting between Houston, Nuggets, Timberwolves, and um the Suns. It's gonna be really hard to get past or lower than the seven. If we would have to go on completely. Okay, that's good. That's good. Like because they we have um, you know, they have 36 losses and we have 28 losses. So that's eight games. Yeah. Like that's really hard to get down to that point, but it's that seven seed. You don't want that.

SPEAKER_03 40:13

I would rather play the Nuggets or the Rockets than the Lakers.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

How about you?

SPEAKER_03 40:18

I would do uh I mean they're all they're all really good.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

What's crazy is we have played so much better against OKC and the Spurs than we have against the Lakers.

SPEAKER_03 40:28

To knowing.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

It's stupid. I hate it. I hate them so much.

SPEAKER_03 40:33

I know.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

I mean, what's the other you know, they they've got okay, so they have Luca, they have Reeves, then they have uh they have LeBron, obviously. But then it's that other guy that keeps on killing us. The other white dude that's the guy who played lacrosse? No, he's on the Warriors and Spencer. The guy who played the cross? No, no, it's the guy that always comes in and then all of a sudden shoots like all the threes. Anyway, there's just like random people that kill us. DeAndre, not not DeAndre Ait. Yeah, DeAndre Aiton. He killed us. He was the center, you know, the center.

SPEAKER_03 41:06

You're like, why don't we have him on our he's not playing for the Lakers? Ayton? He plays for Trailblazers, doesn't he? No, that's where he did play. Oh, I can't keep up. Yeah, Aiton's freaking good. Yeah. I hate playing against Aiton. Are you sure he's on the line?

SPEAKER_02 41:21

I'm 100% sure.

SPEAKER_03 41:22

Oh, I hate, I don't feel like we match up well with him at all. I hate when he and Julius match up against each other, I have to.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

But it should be Rudy. I don't know what the heck's going on with that. Yeah. We should be able to kill him. But anyway, um, so there's only 11 games left. That means that we're really between three and seven. That's kind of where we're seeing. Three and seven. We can't get to two and we can't. It'll be really hard to get to eight.

SPEAKER_03 41:45

Yep. So a lot can happen. A lot will happen.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Um and I mean it starts today against Boston. It's a tough team. Let's talk real quick about Boston. Real quick, before we go.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

How they've managed to be so good without their and how they get Tatum.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Tatum's back. And now he's back. They're the second in the East without him.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

And now it's like Andy Cunningham is out now, and they're Detroit's the first in the East, and now By the way, I like how you say Detroit. Detroit. Detroit. Detroit. Uh yeah, I mean, Boston should get all their flowers for their year. My gosh.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

No kidding. Good for them. Yeah, no. I'm jealous. Oh, yeah. One more topic for the week.

SPEAKER_03 42:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

They have officially, you know, announced, you know, we've been talking about the expansion for the NBA for a long time, for Seattle and Vegas. It is now official that those two teams are getting teams.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

So that's that's another impacts us.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

So, yes, and that's what I want to talk about really quickly, not too long, but um, you know, that's gonna be two additional teams in the West. Obviously, they're in the West. So, what that means is one team, in order to separate the East and West into e even numbers, one team is gonna be going to the East. And there's really three teams that are up for debate.

SPEAKER_03 43:03

And we volunteer as tribute.

SPEAKER_02 43:05

Yes, please, yes. Okay, so it's New Orleans, Memphis, and Minnesota. Like, and that is the order if you were to go like geographically furthest east to furthest west. It's close on all of them, but New Orleans is obviously the furthest east. But Minnesota is right next to the group of like the central division for for the east.

SPEAKER_03 43:32

So Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana. And tell them what you told me about the team that's traveled the most.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Oh, we the Minnesota Timberwolves, and this isn't just for the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves have traveled the most in their existence that any professional sports team.

SPEAKER_03 43:50

We're going everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

We we travel for way further than anyone else um on all of these trips, and we're we're kind of like in the middle of nowhere up here for the weather. I mean it's a joke.

SPEAKER_03 44:02

Now let's talk from the fan experience because this is a fan cast. There are pros and cons to this. Pros, the we're not gonna have to watch stupid start time at 10 p.m. Right if we get to the if we get to the west or east, we don't have to watch this late start, stay up until 9 30, 10 p.m., which happens all the time. It sucks. So we get to watch a game starting at 6. That's much better for us than our the time we go to bed. Well, yes. Downside, we have to watch teams like the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards play four times a year. Right. That's rough.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

But I'll take that.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

But we might beat them more. We might not.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Right. It's true. We keep on like we assume that we're gonna be playing better against those bad teams, but we always kind of play the game.

SPEAKER_03 44:47

How weird would it be to play like the Knicks in the playoffs and play the Celtics in the Cleveland? I mean, I know. Looking right now, we're like rockets, nuggets. It would be a dramatic.

SPEAKER_02 44:59

I mean, can you imagine how upset teams in the East are gonna be if Minnesota got the game?

SPEAKER_03 45:04

That they get Anthony Edwards?

SPEAKER_02 45:06

Yeah, they're like, wait, you're telling me we could get we could get the Pelicans, but instead we're getting one of the best teams in the West moving over here. That's they're gonna be upset. Yeah. But it also, I think it makes you can make the argument, you know, just from balance that that makes more sense.

SPEAKER_03 45:20

We and we have a child that lives in Boston, so we could like go out there more. We should be there this weekend. Yeah. Well, it's true. Thanks for bringing that up because I do feel like that is could be really big news. More to come. More to come. More to come. So yeah. I think that this is an extra long episode. We went, this is XL. Extended E L, extended release. Yes. That's E R. Anyway, I clearly hit my You're limited.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

And this is what's gonna be funny. We're gonna play that song again, you know, coming up. You get it twice. Yeah, you get it twice this time.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

So have a good week, everyone.